Real Reefers John Coppolino and Rob Brynda will deliver ReefStock’s Sunday presentations

Two days of ReefStock means that this year we get an extra day of speakers. Complimenting ReefStock’s Saturday presentations, on Sunday it will be John Coppolino and Rob Brynda giving the hand-picked speaker presentations. John Coppolino is a world renowned expert on the marine fish family Pomacanthidae, but most people just call him an angelfish nut. Rob Brynda is a down-home professional aquarist who is the curator of Fishes, Inverts & Herps at the Denver Downtown Aquarium, the previous home of ReefStock.

john-coppolino-presentation — John Coppolino is a veteran speaker of the marine aquarium event circuit

John Coppolino’s innate passion for fish was nurtured growing up on an island on a lake in Northern New Jersey with a fish loving father and a mother allergic to everything with fur and feathers! A saltwater hobbyist since age 11, John began working at a large regional aquarium store as soon as he obtained working papers in high school, and in college went on to study reef fish in Bermuda and the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador where he lived for about two years after obtaining his B.S. in biology. John now lives in Northern Virginia with his wonderfully supportive wife and two young children, and keeps over 1000 gallons of saltwater aquariums loaded with reef fish including about fifty angelfish, his personal favorite.

The talk that John will be pitching on Sunday is titled “Modern Fish Keeping in Reef Aquaria.” As many aspects of the marine aquarium hobby have evolved at the speed of light, others have not. One of these most misunderstood and outdated branches involves fish keeping. Many people have for years used the “Dump and Hope Approach” when it comes to adding fish to their reef tanks, avoiding proper quarantine and transitioning methods that will help develop a stunning and healthy display of fish in a reef system. “Modern Fish Keeping in Reef Aquaria” is of interest to anyone who keeps fish!

denver-downtown-aquarium-5000-reef — This 5000 gallon reef display is one of many aquarium exhibits under Rob Brynda’s care

Rob is the Curator of Fish, Inverts, and Herps at Downtown Aquarium Denver. He leads a team of Aquarium Biologists who are responsible for the care and
maintenance of a diverse collection of aquatic animals at an aquarium facility with over 1 million gallons of fresh and salt water exhibits. As a working manager he is involved in the daily hands on care of both exhibits and quarantine systems with an emphasis on corals and coral propagation.

Rob’s talk is titled “Husbandry and maintenance techniques for large live coral exhibits” and should include lots of tips and tricks for reefing on a large scale.Many public aquariums have added large live coral displays that range from 1000 gallons to 200,000 gallons over the last 15 years. Public aquarium aquarists are challenged with applying a variety of techniques and skills developed in the hobby on smaller aquariums to larger systems. The live coral exhibits at Downtown Aquarium Denver have a variety of unique husbandry needs.

Jake Adams

Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.